The Best Climbing Camming Device Review

We score both bigger cams and smaller cams in the review. We feel most climbers should not worry about what single set of cams to get. Instead, you should think about what set of small cams you want (sizes .33-1.25") and what kind of medium/big cams you want (sizes 1.5-5+").

Flared Cracks
Flared cracks usually come in the form of pin scars in Yosemite and Zion. However, they are found just about everywhere to some extent. By far the best cams for flared cracks are offset or hybrid cams. The Metolius Offset Master Cam narrow head width scored the highest. For pin scars, it is pretty awesome, especially because the flexible stem helps it get inside deep "boxed out" scars.

The Camalot C4 and the Totem Cams performed the best of the medium sized cams. Neither has offset lobes but both had relatively narrow heads and flexible stems to help the cams grab.

Horizontal Placements and Awkward Placements
Cams with flexible stems and narrow stems did the best in horizontal cracks or weird pods. The Wild Country Zero had the most flexible stem and narrowest stem and did the best. It's the Gumby of cams – it cam bend to get in just about any orientation. The Totem Cam also performed very well as it was the most flexible bigger cam. The Master Cam was stiffer and had a piece of metal in the stem that held back its performance just a little. Cams with stiffer stems caused the cam to be more levered out. They also got more battered when either weighted or fallen on. For example, when bounce testing TCU's, their cables got warped faster than other cams. All cams get a little worked when you bounce on them, but flexible stems did better.

Tight Placements
Cams with the narrowest heads got in tight placements the best. A clear standout is the Black Diamond Camalot C3 that was 10-40 percent narrower than the rest of the small cams. In spots like The Nose's Great Roof, you can really shove them up in tiny little spots and feel secure. Second place was the Master Cam and Offset Master Cam. The TCU's were the widest and really didn't get in tight spots that well. The Wild Country Zero was one of the wider cams in bigger sizes. However, it was also the smallest cam in its smallest sizes. You really need to hold in your hand the smallest sizes to believe just how tiny they are.

For the bigger cams, the Camalots, Totem Cams, and Dragons all performed about equally as well.

Walking
The clear winner in this category for small cams is the Wild Country Zero. Not only does it have a very flexible stem, it has a sling that can be extended. Of course you can always attach a runner to any piece, but having this sling means it is much faster to make the piece safe (and you have to carry fewer draws and runners). The C3 and TCU, with only three cams, stiff stems, and short slings walked the most of the small cams.

For the bigger cams the clear winner is the Totem Cam. It is way more flexible than any other cam. Another high scorer is the Dragon Cam because it has a single stem and an extendable sling built in.

Durability
All cams eventually get beat up, but the Aliens showed the most wear the fastest on the cams. Their soft metal caused the cams to lose their teeth and become difficult to open. Their stems, however, were well protected with a protective sheath and even after a ton of bounce testing the stems usually stayed in shape. The Wild Country Zero stems, on the other hand, are much more delicate with their exposed cables; you really had to take care of them. Most other cams were about the same for durability. The TCU was the most burly because it had a beefy cable and lasted the longest. The Master Cams have a very durable stem and cams but their Kevlar cam "wires" are still of unknown durablility.

Editors' Choice
Our Editors' Choice for medium and large camming device goes to Black Diamond Camalot C4. These cams are awesome. We found them to be the most versatile and reliable cam that we tested. Free climbing, aid climbing, anchor setting, you name it. These cams will get the job done for you in good style. Their double axle design gives them a good range, though not the greatest, and we found them to be a top performer in awkward placements. All in all, these cams are just bomber; durable, confidence-inspiring and easy to handle.

Our Editor's Choice for small camming is the Metolius Master Cam. It scored high in every category, was bomber, durable and also one of the cheapest cams. In fact, if it hadn't won our Editors' Choice Award, we would have given it the Best Buy Award. It's tricky to decide how many offset pieces to carry versus regular models. We usually carry two sets of regular cams and one set of offsets in most applications. However, on a wall we would bring two sets of offsets and two sets of regular, especially in the small sizes.

We buy the Metolius Master Cam up to the #3 or 4 and then switch to Camalot C4's for sizes #.75 or #1 and up.

Best Buy
For the first time ever we have no Best Buy award because our Editors' Choice winners are also a great value. There are a few less expensive cams out there but they scored much much lower.

Top Pick
We give a Top Pick award to the Metolius Offset Master Cam. It is our favorite small cam for aid climbing. Free climbers should also carry a set or two of these if you climb in an area with lots of pin scars (Yosemite or Zion).

Recommended
Most cams we tested had something they were best at:

DMM Dragon Cam - lightest and best for alpine rock and ice
Wild Country Zero - smallest cam and best for horizontal placements
Black Diamond Camalot C3 - best in tiny spots